


leaning on a balustrade

by Sword_Kallya



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Kidnapping, Lawrence crock's A+ parenting, Minor Character Death, None of these are actually shown but they have large effects on the plot, Suicidal Thoughts, The team is there for like 3 minutes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-20
Packaged: 2021-03-24 12:53:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30072540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sword_Kallya/pseuds/Sword_Kallya
Summary: “Artemis is missing,” Batman declared. He ignored the sudden rush of questions. “16 hours ago, Lawrence Crock, a.k.a. Sportsmaster, won full legal custody of his daughter Artemis.”
Relationships: Artemis Crock/Wally West, Roy Harper/Jade Nguyen
Comments: 6
Kudos: 20





	1. Prologue: separates the lands

**Author's Note:**

> Title and all chapter titles taken from _Climbing the Yueyang Tower_ by Du Fu.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Occurs between s01e14 and s01e15.

_Central City_

_October 20 03:23_

The phone on Wally’s bedside buzzed in a pattern that Robin had calculated to be able to wake the dead. He groaned loudly. “If this is another meme, I swear I’m tie-dyeing his cape bright pink.” He swatted at the phone until he managed to grab it, then held it far too close to his face, squinting at the bright light.

_R: Allcall. B says get here now_

Crap. He threw on his uniform at speed, shoved a couple protein bars in his mouth, and left a note for his parents. He was at the closest zeta tube entrance in less than three minutes. It still felt like too long. The last time Batman had called the whole team together like this, the entire Justice League hadn’t been occupied and they literally couldn’t spare anyone to go after the _actual bad guys._ What was going on this time? How many people were going to die before they managed to get there?

The Mountain crowd was already in the briefing room when Wally got there, yawning and scrubbing sleep dust out of their eyes. Half of Conner’s hair was sticking straight up, the X on M’gann’s uniform was black instead of red, and Kaldur’s water-bearers – Wally entirely failed to swallow his snicker. “Kaldur. You’ve got–” he tapped his chest.

Kaldur blinked slowly at him, then looked down at his chest. He nearly put an eye out on the hilt of one of his water-bearers – he’d strapped the harness on backwards, so instead of the hilts being over his shoulders, they framed his face. He grumbled something uncomplimentary in Atlantean as he took his water pack off and put it on properly.

The zeta tubes announced the arrival of Red Arrow. Wally zipped over before he even fully materialized. “Do you know what’s going on?”

Red Arrow’s uniform was soaked with sweat, and he was bandaging a wound on his leg. “No idea. Bats just called me in – in the middle of a drug bust, by the way. We know what the mission is yet?”

“Nothing.” Everyone shook their heads. “Just got a text from Robin saying to get here now.”

“Huh.” Red Arrow limped into the center of the room. “Somebody want to help me with these bandages while we wait?”

Everyone moved forward at once; Wally crashed into Conner, which was sort of the same experience as crashing into a brick wall (and he would know). M’gann gave a sleepy giggle. Kaldur was the one who successfully made it to help with the bandages.

 _“Batman 01, Robin B-01,”_ the zeta tubes announced. Everyone snapped to attention. The Dynamic Duo came out of the zeta in mid-stride, clearly having already been through one or three fights. Wally spotted a few bullet holes in the flutter of Batman’s cape as he headed for the central platform at a pace that would be a run on anyone else. He didn’t know how to read his best friend’s mentor’s face very well, but Robin looked _worried._

“Dude,” Wally whispered as Robin joined the rest of the group. “What’s going on?”

Robin shushed him. “Wait.”

“Computer,” Batman ordered. “Show files on Artemis, Sportsmaster, Huntress, and Cheshire. Override Batman 01, passcode T4M8A10D5. Show legal name, all active files. Update file, Huntress. Status: Deceased. Time of death, 22:15, October 19. Suspected cause of death: Trauma to major organs from multiple gunshot wounds to the chest.”

Wally watched the new information pop up and felt the protein bars rebel in his stomach. _Artemis Crock. Lawrence Crock. Paula Crock. Jade Nguyen nee Crock._ Paula Crock, the Huntress – Artemis’s _mom_ – was dead.

He suddenly realized who they were missing. “Where’s Artemis?” He spun towards Robin, who winced instead of answering him.

“Artemis is missing,” Batman declared. He ignored the sudden rush of questions. “16 hours ago, Lawrence Crock, a.k.a. Sportsmaster, won full legal custody of his daughter Artemis.”

“Bribed his way into getting custody,” Robin snapped. He bounced nervously on his toes.

“We have no evidence of that,” Batman said evenly.

“The court order was from Johanson, you _know_ he doesn’t get off his butt unless someone pays him for it. No way would Sportsmaster have waited for a court session if he could just drop a few hundred-dollar bills and get what he wanted _now.”_

 _“Regardless_ of the legitimacy of the court’s decision,” Batman snapped, “The facts are clear.”

“Hold up,” Roy hissed. “She’s the daughter of two _supervillains?_ And you let her join the team? No _wonder_ information was leaked.”

“Artemis was raised primarily by Paula Crock, after her mother had a career-ending injury and divorced her husband. The pair have had no contact with Sportsmaster that we know of, outside of the few times the team has crossed paths with him… and tonight.” Batman ignored Roy’s scoff. “Six hours ago, Lawrence Crock entered his ex-wife’s apartment in Gotham Narrows, in defiance of a restraining order. Two minutes later, gunshots were heard from inside the apartment. Artemis activated her distress beacon less than a minute after. Robin and I responded immediately. In the five minutes between the signal activating and our arrival, Sportsmaster managed to pry Artemis out of her bedroom and force her into a waiting car. Our attempts to track the vehicle failed once it passed the city limits.”

Wally felt his spine straighten as Batman’s gaze swept the room. “Regardless of whether Artemis has been passing information to our enemies, she _must_ be found. Robin has all of the information the Justice League has collated on Sportsmaster’s movements and allies. Red Arrow.”

Roy looked nervous at being called out individually. “Yeah?”

“You’ve been in contact with Cheshire.”

Watching Roy go as red as his uniform was interesting. “Maybe. What about it?”

“Her distaste for her father is a matter of record. She may be willing to provide assistance, especially given…” Batman _hesitated._ Wally had never seen him hesitate before. “Someone needs to inform her of her mother’s passing.”

“Jesus.” Roy scrubbed a hand over his face. “You can’t give me an easy job, like sorting through days’ worth of security footage? I’ll see if I can’t track her down, but she has a tendency to go to ground when her dad’s on the move.”

“Take backup when you do. If the team isn’t available, one of the League will back you up. As for the rest of you.” Batman’s white-eyed glare felt like a physical weight. “Locating and retrieving Artemis just became this team’s highest priority. You have the full resources of the League at your backs. Bring her home.”

Kaldur stepped forward. “Artemis is one of our own. We will find her.”

Wally felt his spirits lift at their leader’s confidence. They’d taken on worse odds and won before – heck, they’d taken on the entire _Injustice League._ They weren’t going to let a second-class villain like Sportsmaster kidnap one of their teammates.

That confidence lasted through the first month.


	2. rages in the northern mountain

_Two years later_

_Central City_

_August 10 16:48_

Being locked in a car trunk wasn’t exactly a new experience for Kid Flash. You got in a fight, you lost, you got brought to a secondary location. That was the way superheroing worked. Being hogtied in a car trunk was slightly less common, not to mention less comfortable, but still not his first time.

Being shoved into a car trunk that _somebody else was already in_ was new, though.

Also, Roy had very pointy elbows.

Wally didn’t bother keeping track of where the car was heading. His suit had four different trackers, and Red Arrow probably had more. He was mostly trying to wiggle away from Roy’s joints, and maybe get into a position that would look slightly less compromising to whoever opened the trunk. It was probably a lost cause, but since Wally still hadn’t gotten the hang of vibrating through solid objects, he didn’t exactly have anything else to do.

There was a bumping sensation that was probably the driver pulling off the side of the road. Wally went still; beneath him, Roy tensed. They could hear doors open and shut, and feet crunching on gravel. Wally tried _again_ to vibrate through the ropes on his wrists, but nothing was happening –

The trunk slammed open. Wally recoiled from the sudden wash of sunlight. Rough hands yanked him out and threw him to the ground. A boot came down on the point where his hands and feet were bound together, and he yelped through the gag. Instead of moving him or doing anything, the person just ground down harder. Wally found himself panting through the gag, staring blankly at the gravel under his cheek. Were they trying to break his hands?

After a while, Roy was thrown down beside him. Wally didn’t get a chance to try and look him over before he was being yanked onto his knees. The driver – _Sportsmaster?_ Where had he come from? They had been fighting Captain Cold! – waved something small that beeped in his face. When he apparently didn’t get the response he wanted, he went down the uniform –

The device shrieked right over the tracker hidden in the Flash logo. Wally paled and started to struggle in earnest. Sportsmaster pulled out a hunting knife and cut the logo away, not caring when he nicked the skin beneath in several places. Wally managed to move his hips enough that Sportsmaster couldn’t pinpoint the tracker in his waistband. He prayed that help would show up soon. This was a whole new level of bad news. If the trackers were being removed, it meant that he wanted to _keep_ them.

The blade of the hunting knife kissed Wally’s throat, and he went stock still. “Keep struggling, and I strip you instead of bothering to find all of the trackers. Clear?”

Wally swallowed and nodded, eyes wide. He could feel his Adam’s apple bob against the edge of the blade.

Sportsmaster left the knife there for one long moment more, just to prove his point. Then he cut off the trackers in the hemline of Wally’s pants and of one sleeve. Instead of cutting out the one in his boot, he just pulled it off and tossed it into the drainage ditch. Then he shoved Wally over and pinned him again while he did something to Roy – probably removing all the trackers on him, too. There was a thudding sound that was probably Roy being tossed back into the trunk of the car. When Sportsmaster yanked Wally up again, he was holding a roll of duct tape. Wally felt his stomach sink into his one remaining shoe.

He tried his best to twist away, but he still couldn’t really move, and Sportsmaster put him in a headlock. The tape went around his goggles and earpieces. By the time it was done, Waly was totally blind and could barely hear. Then he was picked up and thrown back into the car trunk. He tried not to hyperventilate. He needed to _think._ They were moving again, and this time it would be much harder for allies to track them down. Where was Sportsmaster taking them? He wouldn’t go to all this effort just to kill them, would he?

Wally lost track of how long they drove in his panic. He and Roy couldn't communicate, not blindfolded, gagged and with their hands bound. They went through alternating periods of panic, banging on the trunk lid as much as they could, which wasn't much. By the time the car stopped again, Wally was exhausted, dehydrated, and starving, and he'd bet money Roy was the same.

More hands – at least two pairs this time – hauled him up. Someone cut the rope between his hands and feet but left the one tying his feet together alone. If he tried to run, he’d trip. _Smart_ kidnappers, his least favorite kind.

The same two people walked him over rough ground, then into some sort of building. They stopped and started several times – security checkpoints? – then took a bunch of turns. Another, shorter pause, and then Wally was lifted and set down on something soft.

_No._

Wally started to thrash as his hands were bound above his head. His feet were freed and then bound again, this time spread apart. _No no no._ This couldn’t be happening. He tried to scream through the gag, but all that made it through the cloth was a muffled whine. Please, God, don’t let this happen to him.

The duct tape over his goggles was yanked off with no finesse whatsoever. Wally screeched as much as he could when a decent chunk of his hair went with it.

Sportsmaster leered down at him through the stripes of adhesive left on his lenses. He was holding a control collar. Wally did his best, but tied down as he was, he couldn’t get away. The collar snapped shut.

Everything was too _fast,_ and Wally couldn’t react fast enough to handle it. Intellectually, he knew that it was the collar, slowing his reaction time down to regular human speed, but that didn't make it any less terrifying.

Then he saw Sportsmaster pull out the collar's trigger. _“Hnn!”_ he shouted.

The world went white, and black at the edges.

By the time Wally could think about something besides _pain_ and _not enough air,_ the room was empty. He was left alone, without his powers, tied to a bed with his legs bound open.

He wasn’t ashamed to admit that he lost his shit for a little while. He struggled and screamed as much as he was able to. He thrashed until he’d exhausted himself. He yelled through the gag, not that anyone would be coming. The only thing that changed was the lights turning off, and that was probably because they were on a timer.

Some unknown amount of time later – Wally tried to count seconds, but everything seemed so much _faster –_ Wally heard the door open, and the lights came back on. He couldn’t see the door from his position, but that didn’t stop him from twisting to try and get a look at whoever had just come in.

Familiar long blonde hair and gray eyes appeared in his field of view. Wally felt his blood run cold. It _couldn’t_ be. “Aaeh-hnn?”

Artemis's golden skin was sickly pale. _"Wally?_ But - you can't - fuck. _Fuck!"_ She slammed a punch into the wall and shook her head violently like she was trying to knock something loose. "I'm going to _kill him."_ She muttered to herself in Vietnamese for a moment, then started to untie Wally from the bed.

As soon as the gag was off, Wally started asking questions. His tongue felt slow and thick in his mouth. “Ar’emis? Wha’s goin’ on? Why’re you here?”

She gritted her teeth. Wally tensed as she put one hand on his knee to steady his legs while she worked on untying them. She wouldn’t – she’d been on the team, she wouldn’t do _that,_ would she? But she just kept cutting him loose. Thank God.

“I’m here because I live here,” Artemis said evenly as she worked at one of the knots with a knife. “This is my bedroom.”

Wally swallowed. That was – “Your dad wanted you to–”

Artemis didn't meet his gaze. “Yeah. This is his idea of a father-daughter bonding gift.”

“That’s. Really fucked up.”

“I know.”

Finally, he was free. Wally sat up, working the stiffness out of limbs that had been locked in one position for way too long. “So, uh, what now?” Then he realized, “Wait, what about Roy?”

“Who?”

“Roy, uh–” Wally froze for a moment, then realized that Artemis probably never would have heard his civilian name. “Red Arrow. He was captured with me, but I haven’t seen him since we got here.”

Artemis went pale. “He wouldn’t – no, of course he would.” Wally had a feeling she wasn’t talking about him or Roy. She snarled something _very_ uncomplimentary under her breath. “I’ll go get him. Don’t leave the room, that’ll set the collar off.”

“Hold on, what–” Artemis was already gone. Assuming she was telling the truth about the collar, Wally couldn’t follow her without shocking himself. He didn’t really feel like testing those boundaries right now. His limbs already ached; he didn’t want to add a potential head wound to the mix, especially not when he wasn’t sure if he’d be allowed medical attention.

He poked around the room – Artemis’s room was _weirdly_ bare, there were barely any personal touches at all besides a framed award from Gotham Academy – and found that the smaller door led to an attached bathroom. _Score!_ He had _not_ been looking forward to asking Artemis to escort him to a general shower like the ones they had in the Mountain. Wally took the opportunity to scrub the grime of the fight and journey off his skin, mentally praying that the spray would short out the collar.

His reaction time stayed the same. No dice.

Wally felt _supremely_ awkward going through Artemis's drawers, but his costume was filthy. (And also now had strategic cutouts, courtesy of Sportsmaster.) Given what Sportsmaster had planned to happen to him, what _would_ have happened to him if Artemis had been just a bit less the girl he remembered from her months on the team, Wally wanted as much skin covered as possible. He dug up a worn tee, a sweatshirt, and a pair of jeans that all looked like they would fit. They were a bit loose, but he’d take that over tight right now.

He was considering what to do about shoes when the door opened. Artemis walked in, guiding a Roy who looked like he was ready to chew iron and spit nails, as Uncle Jay would say. His domino mask was gone, and the entire top half of his suit was missing. He was still gagged, and his hands were bound behind his back, but as soon as the door was shut Artemis started untying him.

When Roy saw Wally, he seemed even angrier. As soon as the gag was off, he snarled, “What, one kidnapped hero wasn’t _enough_ for you?”

Artemis opened her mouth to respond, but them arguing wasn’t going to do anyone any good at this point. “She didn’t do anything, Roy,” Wally interrupted.

“Except have her dad kidnap us in the first place,” Roy muttered.

Artemis sighed. “This was _not my idea,_ believe me. I had no idea he was going to do this.”

“Why should I believe you, _traitor?”_ Roy hissed.

Artemis stumbled back like he’d slapped her. When she lifted her head again, her eyes were filled with a burning _rage_ strong enough to make Wally flinch.

She stared for several moments before speaking. “Don’t leave the room.” She stormed out, slamming the door shut behind her.

After several seconds of silence, Wally shrugged. “Well, that could have gone better.”

Roy slapped him upside the head.


End file.
